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Do you mean getting a better bid/ask price?

There are two other free lunches: 1) reducing tax exposure 2) reducing transaction costs But those two plus the one you mentioned are the only three I'm aware of.

I would take it out to more extremes. To me, this would be non-correlated: 1) a passive s&p 500 fund 2) a money market fund 3) an options trading account 4) a car wash 5) a rental duplex 6) sell stuff at a flea market on saturdays 7) be a vendor on amazon 8) work a regular job for wages 9) do...

Hello, Does anybody here put different categories of investments into different accounts? I kind of like the idea of partitioning different stuff into different accounts. Some stocks I want to take small speculative positions on, but I don't want to have to look at 30 extra stocks on my main...

I think I found the problem: you are on the west coast! I was recently in Europe, and it was great having the U.S. market open at 3:30pm... total dream for someone like me who prefers to get up at 9:30am and go to sleep at 2:00am. I'll work any schedule my work requires of me.. but I must say...

Could you tell us more about your five sector index tracker portfolio? Do you stay with the same ones for years, or do you rotate around a lot? Also, do you do options 100% for a living? I am having very good success with options, but I am hesitant to risk more than a small fraction of my...

Covered calls are best used when you are confident the stock will stay flat or mildly appreciate. If the stock jumps up, you miss out on all of that extra upside. If the stock drops, you have to buy back the call at a loss and sell your stock at a loss (unless you want to "tough it out"). You...

Hello, Suppose I sell a stock for a capital gain this week in a state that taxes you on capital gains. But then I move to another state that has no capital gains tax, and live there for the rest of the year. Do I still have to pay the capital gains tax (because I was living in the tax state at...

Thanks, Robert. Is this difficult to do? I've always used an accountant before. In part to avoid having to learn the software, but mostly to be sure I didn't make a mistake.

Hello, I did about 50-100 trades last year. I have some short term and long term gains. Other than that, my tax return is very simple. About how much do you think it would cost to have an account prepare a tax return like this? I'm not sure how much the trades add to the accountant's time.

Hello, Apparently it is big business for ETFs to lend out their shares (for short-selling, etc.). But what if the borrower gets in a jam and can't cover? It think the ETF shareholders (not BlackRock) are on the hook for the default. And if there is systemic default, the ETF shareholders...

Hello, For 1% on your money, you can protect the SPY etf, allowing you 19% upside against 20% downside. The ETF is trading at 282. So: Sell the 335 call Buy the 225 put This will cost about 0.9% for an entire year of protection (Jan 19 expiration). This seems like a great idea. I think the...

Hello, This etf looks interesting: https://www.ishares.com/us/products/251614/ishares-msci-usa-momentum-factor-etf I'm used to ETFs that keep their holdings very steady (Like the S&P 500). This one seems to have some sort of computation going on that identifies momentum stocks and then places...

Thanks. I put it on my buy list.

Hello, Buy-and-hold people need to tough it out through downturns, watch their net worth decline, and have enough cash on hand to avoid selling at a loss. I'm wondering what the day traders and other short-term traders live like. It seems like if you cash out each day, and you are equally...

A lot of people say it's good to walk away from the screen at certain times. Probably when the emotions have overpowered the intellect, or your brain just needs a rest. This is more of a qualitative than quantitative stop.

Thank you. What does that mean exactly? Do they do some sort of financial voodoo to keep the share price currency neutral?

Hello, Suppose you are in the 30% income tax bracket, vs. a 15% capital gains tax bracket. Then: For long-term capital gains tax, you need to earn 117.7 dollars to end up with 100 dollars after tax: 117.7(.85) = 100 For short-term trades with a 30% income tax rate, you need to earn 142.9...

Is your broker filling the orders, or the market maker? It would be interesting to log into two different brokerage accounts, and see if the bid/ask is meaningfully different. I find I get at or near the mid without too much fuss. I usually get at or near the mid for my options and stocks...

That's very interesting. So if a lot of people start buying the same option... it will drive the price up? If so, it reminds me more of a sports betting environment. My understanding of that environment is that the "bookie" wants an even amount of betters on either side of the bet. The...